Saturday, September 19, 2009

Narrow the Search

About two year ago, after easing up to the idea, we started to look for our cabin hideaway. We considered cabins near ski resorts, on lakes, near lakes, in the woods, in mountain communities, and combinations of all of the proceeding.

Eventually a new factor became apparent: how far will the vacation home be from our house? There were very nice cabins less than an hour away from our home. At the same time, we have always loved Banff... a three hour flight and another country away. Ultimately, we realized that we wanted our vacation home to be very accessible. We narrowed our focus to local mountain areas. Since we lived in Los Angeles, this meant Big Bear Lake, Wrightwood, Lake Arrowhead, and Idyllwild. There were a few other areas, but this was our list.

Even four local areas soon proved to be too large. We eliminated Idyllwild as it was the farthest from our home. Distance from one's home needs to be an important discussion between any couple buying a vacation home. The home six hours away might be wonderful, but how often are you going to use it. We also eliminated Lake Arrowhead. It is an older area that never felt right to us. If one or both people do not like an area, based on whatever unseen forces guide the universe, don't ignore these feelings. Like a relationship, the things that bother you a little today, you will hate tomorrow. Thus, Big Bear Lake and Wrightwood became the two communities in which we hoped to find tranquilty away from Southern California's hectic lifestyle.